Description of the family

Trees or shrubs (in ours).
Leaves alternate, 2-pinnate or (in some introduced
species) modified to phyllodes which look like simple leaves.
Inflorescences usually spikes, racemes or heads of small,
actinomorphic (3-)5(-6)-merous flowers. Sepals usually united to
form a calyx. Petals valvate in bud, free, or united below into a
tube. Stamens 4-10, as many as or twice as many as the petals, or
numerous. Pods and seeds various. Seeds generally marked with
an areole.

Comment: Nowadays combined with the subfamilies Caesalpinioideae
and Papilionoideae into the large family FABACEAE or LEGUMINOSAE. However, as all three are extensive and distinctive groups, it is still preferred to deal with them in separate lists.